Ending Domestic Homicides: More work needs to be done

Yesterday, the lives of 3 children and the friends and family of a Calgary woman were changed forever when their mother was killed by their father in front of their school. Our hearts and thoughts are with this woman’s loved ones. This news echoes our own story, as Jessica Martel left behind 3 children when she was murdered by her partner as she tried to leave. The most dangerous time in an abusive relationship is when you leave. The 2023 ACWS Data release reported a significant increase to the level of physical violence with  51% of survivors surveyed believing their partner was capable of killing them, and 42% had been strangled by their partner.

The Calgary Police Service released information indicating that the perpetrator had previous charges of domestic abuse. He was released on a no-contact order, which was intended to keep this woman and her children safe from him. He had violated that no-contact order twice in the past 4 months, and had new warrants issued for charges of unlawfully harassing and stalking the victim. The victim was doing everything she could to keep herself and her children safe. It wasn’t enough. The justice system failed to keep her safe. She paid the ultimate price.

In this instance, the perpetrator died of self-inflicted wounds shortly after murdering his estranged wife. In cases of domestic homicide, second-degree murder is the most common charge overall and manslaughter is the most common conviction. This was the case in the recent domestic homicide of another Calgary mother named Sharilyn Gagnon. Gagnon’s boyfriend, Vladimir Ngbangbo Soki, was charged with second-degree murder in her death, but accepted a lower plea of manslaughter. He has a lengthy criminal history, including a previous assault on Gagnon. A pre-sentence report found him at high risk to violently reoffend. Soki was sentenced to 10 years, with less than 6 years left to serve at the time of his sentencing. Gagnon’s murder was so violent that the funeral director broke down in tears when showing her body to her family.

The family of this unnamed mother will not get their day in court because the perpetrator is dead. Yet her family, Gagnon’s family, and countless other families will remember the violent loss of their loved one every day for the rest of their lives. While some might say our justice system is broken, there is no court ruling that will bring our loved ones back. However, better laws about coercive control, better monitoring of violent offenders who have no-contact orders, and stricter sentencing for violent reoffenders will keep them off the streets and keep other victims from meeting the same fate as Gagnon, Jessica Martel, and this unnamed woman.

The learning we can take from this woman’s murder and countless others is we have more work to do to end violence in our homes.  Her murder could have been prevented. The system failed to keep her and her children safe. The Province of Alberta needs to be an active player in ending Gender Based Violence by:

1. providing a stronger system of care for survivors and their families
2. strengthening primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention as well as intervention efforts
3. advocating for more responsive legal and justice systems, with partnership at the federal level

These recommendations were made in 2021 by ACWS and member shelters in our response to the National Action Plan to End Gender Based Violence.

This is why we are here – to prevent this from happening again.

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